Philosophy

Punishment as Spectacle: Jeffrey Gower on Black Mirror’s “White Bear” (Part 2)

This is another installment in my series of reviews of Black Mirror. These posts DO include spoilers. Stop reading now if you don’t want to know! [Note from Dr. J: What follows is Part 2 of a two-part guest post from Jeffrey Gower.  You can read Part One here.] Near the end of “White Bear,” as Victoria sits bound to a…

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Five Reasons Why I Am A Techno-Optimist

Since I posted my list of tech book recommendations a few weeks ago, several people have asked me to explain why I describe myself as a “techno-optimist.” I get this question a lot, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to give a quick account (and defense) of my position. But, first, a few preliminary remarks about…

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On Snitches: Silence and Secrecy in the Information Age

Recently, I took part in an excellent interdisciplinary symposium (hosted by Ted George and Kristi Sweet of the Texas A&M Philosophy Department) focused on “Hermeneutics, the Humanities, and the Future of Interpretation.” All of the presentations were great, but the one that has stuck in my craw, and which I suspect I will not be able to pry loose for quite some…

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An Experiment in the Redistribution of Grades, Part 2

This is a follow-up to my post last May, in which I explained a new pedagogical device I planned to introduce in my classes this semester. I called it “An Experiment in the Redistribution of Grades” and, as of two weeks ago, the experiment has begun. The basic idea is that I am giving students an opportunity to…

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An Experiment in the (Re)Distribution of Grades, Part 1

WARNING: If you still believe that academia is a meritocracy, that higher ed assessment instruments are useful (or unbiased), that grades motivate students to learn, or that grades accurately reflect students’ performance, this essay is not for you. Now, let’s talk about grades. No matter how fastidious one is about one’s course design, every prof…

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Words of Wisdom for the Class of 2018

Back in 2015, Christian Brothers University asked some of its faculty (including me) to share some #WordsofWisdom with the graduating class. So, I made a short video (below), which more or less reiterates what any student who has ever taken a class from me will recognize as Rule #1 from the list of “Dr. J’s…

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MEA CULPA: I Was So Wrong About Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg totally proved me wrong in his testimony to Congress over the last two days. Contrary to what I anticipated in my blog post yesterday (here), he *DID* attempt to explain to Congress things that they (obviously) did not know or understand, he *DID* offer concrete suggestions for policy/legislative change, he *DID* explicitly oppose the…

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Humanity: How To Tell Your Students They’re The End Of It

For the last couple of semesters, I’ve been trying to introduce my students, in as gentle and nonthreatening a manner as possible, to the idea that they may very well be the last of “humanity” as we know it.  This has not been a well-received speculative proposition. In my defense, I really make an effort…

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Parental Control: On Black Mirror’s “Arkangel” (Guest Post by Shannon M. Mussett)

[This is the next installment in my ongoing series of reviews of Black Mirror. These posts DO include spoilers. Stop reading now if you don’t want to know!] [Note from Dr. J: What follows is a guest post on S4E2 “Arkangel” from Shannon M. Mussett, a brilliant philosopher and dear friend with whom I frequently disagree about almost all things technological. I’ll be…

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Zuckerberg, Congress, and Morality Theater

Our country’s most enigmatic robot overlord, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is scheduled to appear before Congress today to answer questions about, among other things, Facebook’s complicity with Russian bots, sock-puppets, and fake-news generators as well as the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal. As I’ve said before on this blog, we really ought not underestimate the importance of…

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